Combination advertising and illuminating fixture



y 1950 A. B. RUSSELL, JR 2,507,350

COMBINATION ADVERTISING AND ILLUMINATING FIXTURE Filed Feb. 3, 1947 Y i 3 1 20 i 32 lh nllllln HIH II HII ||H|H |m|l| i JL L IULLIIHU H liL l lll lllm 'LHIM INVENTOR A//e/2 15. Russefl Jr.

v 0 ATTORN Y.

Patented May 9, 1 950 Iii also? COMB'INAQIONfADVERTISING rmnmnrmo FIXTURE This invention has to do with: a fixture for illuminating merchandise on display'and sin'mi 133118011513 advertisingcr or otherwi's'e ind-i'catin'g stm prospectiver' purchasers the kind at? goods -b'eing displayedfiand :hass foi i i wpr-im'ary 'ob j ect. a provisions of a devices that vissiiiienpensive.i-to?madam; facture-Ian'd: exceedingly attractive- The most'importantt.ob-1iect :or thisfinventioniisture:havingrantelectrio lamprpartiallsesurrounded: by. an open'bottommeflectcrruponione'side whereof."

is disposedaan': illuminated zplater of :plastic mate-r rial, whichplaten dependsz: a distance-e below 9 the" lowermost edgez of 'the :refiector to ereceivesraysi of light directed-thereto? by? "the" electric": lampgfi whereby .theaplataandtadvertisingnndicia thereon is illuminated simultaneously with an illuminate tionof goods omdisplzimblow the fixture.

Other objects of this invention include the manner in which-the-aforesaidplastic plate is beveled along one longitudinal edge thereof; the

manner in which a shield entirely=covers=thebeV eled edge oitheplate todirect rays oflight transversely through" theplate; and the said advertising incl-iia is molded intozone' face of the plate for. receivingcsuchtransversely":directed raysoi light.

Mam; minor: obiectsfloi thisiinvention iwil l We made clear or become apparent during the course of the following specification, reference being, had to the accompanying drawing. wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective viewof a display: case showing therewith a'combinati'orr advertising and illuminating fixture made in accordance with my present invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of the fixture per se taken on line II-II of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary front elevational view thereof, a portion of the shield being broken away to reveal the roughened beveled edge of the plastic plate.

In the field of merchandising, it is usually desirable to illuminate the goods on display, particularly when the same are housed Within a glass case therefor and at the same time make known to purchasers the character of the goods in said case. The device about to be described makes such simultaneous illumination of the goods and advertising of the samepossibie throiigli tlfe me illustrations shown, this fi'xture is illustrator? as being mounted within a displaycase broadly dee ignatedbythenlimeral Hl'i' The formcand con struction: of easel o forms no part" ot this in vn" tion and may well liave' a nmnb'errorsupportmg shelve's forthe goods; all te tlie enatriattne same maybe-well lighted b y the eviee fotming a part of 1 my present inventions A :refiector, enerally designated by 'th'e numeral ll 2 .Lhas' a top jwall l 4- and 5a" a'irrof downwardly extending:si'd -wiaxlls lfifan'd Iwas well -as ei'idiwalls20% reneeteri I: wheniso formed; presents ia peiygonai stru tu-re; .havingean'r open ibettoms and a' pai-r a rntro rescent lainps fl are mounted w-ith-iiitfiisreflector I2 by aflixing the same tosthe innerniostfiface -oo top 'wall l i throughfthe m'edium r se-rem! :th

like. 242a Theseifiuorescent la'mps 22-1 are: or the usual: type: and? have i. connection to a suitable source 1 of :electrical': energy I (not lshowm .tolthe end that-rays'soiclightiemanatingotherefirc will be directedodownwardlyrin-ithe direetiomotithe arrowsrindicated in Figss llandizzi.

25 A plate of transparent material zsusmieuntear upon themutermosttfaceroafifsideiwall I Mai.- reflector lLthr'oughthe medium of azpaimofzLi-shap'edi brackets'iz28 sat eachwend 'sthereofr. Thesecbraoketsi 28 reach-have .one leg thereof overlappingrthemlatei i 261rand the opposite leg thereof- :extendin'grrear wardly-from wall i Bi-and toverlapping tendr M12123 of- I reflector- 11 2. A num'ber of screw aor theslikei 30 serveeto' mount bracketsi 28x upon :theeplateflii and end wal lseflllrespectivelys.

This plate--26 extends: the; entire: lengthrioif reflectors l 2:: andlidepends a; i distance: bel'ows'side walla l8; as is. clear in r Fig. 221 Thee lowermost longitudinal BdgE-TOfi platen-26amiinclinedi inwardlw from tHevinnermoSt face thereof asYatY-M I an d ai shield:3kmountedsuppnflplateflfi covers the enti-i i lengtlr'ofothez-iinclined edge l 3-2'iofiplat 2fitshield 34 is mounted upon plate 26 through the medium of screws or the like 36 and one leg 38 thereof overlaps a portion of the outermost face of plate 26.

It is preferable that plate 26 be formed from plastic inasmuch as such material has the peculiar characteristics of not only being transparent and permeable to rays of light but is capable of directing such rays of light transversely through its body. In other words, rays of light emanating from lamps 22, as indicated by arrows in Fig. 2, strike the innermost face of plate 26 extending below wall l8 and as the same move 55 against the shield 34, such rays of light will move upwardly through plate 26 in the direction of the arrows, shown in Fig. 2.

Suitable advertising indicia 42 is molded or otherwise embossed within the plate 26 and preferably in the innermost face thereof. As rays of light travel upwardly through plate 26, the same will come in contact with the molded letters or other indicia 42, causing the same to be brightly illuminated and distinctly set out. It is this peculiar light transmitting quality of plastic material which presents the attractive appearance that is desired since other types of transparent material failed to illuminate such molded indicia in distinctive patterns.

A pair of loops 44 upon end walls 20 of reflector l2 engage hooks 45 upon the uppermost wall of case ID, to serve as a medium of hanging the fixture in a position where the rays of light will illuminate merchandise on display as the indicia 42 is also lighted. While two lamps 22 have been shown as mounted within the shield l2, it is understood that only one is necessary to attain the desired results or more than two may be used is such is desired. While the inclined edge 32 of plate 26, combined with the shield 34, will produce the effect of directing the rays of light upwardly through plate 26, as above explained, Fig. 3 of the drawing illustrates the manner in which this beveled edge 32 may be roughened or left in a rough condition when the plate 26 is formed, to further assure that such rays of light will not escape in an undesired direction. In other words, such roughened condition of longitudinal edge 32 will additionally divert the rays of light toward the indicia 42, where the same, upon striking the molded letters, will cause bright illumination.

Many advantages arising through the use of the device just described will be apparent to those experienced in the field and it is, therefore, desired to be limited only by the spirit of this invention and scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A combination advertising and illuminating fixture comprising a housing open only at its bottom and formed from opaque material, said housing having at least one elongated, vertical wall; illuminating means in said housing spaced above said open bottom; a plate, co-extensive in length with said wall and formed from material permeable to rays of light, said plate having advertising indicia moulded in one face thereof, the opposite face of the plate being secured flatly to the outermost face of said wall, said plate extendin downwardly beyond the lowermost edge of said wall and having its lowermost edge inclined inwardly as said one face thereof is approached; and means having parts covering said inclined edge of the plate for directing rays of light emanating from said illuminating means vertically through said plate toward said indicia.

2. A combination advertising and illuminating fixture comprising a housing open only at its bottom and formed from opaque material, said housing having at least one elongated, vertical wall; illuminating means in said housing spaced above said open bottom; a plate, co-extensive in length with said wall and formed from material permeable to rays of light, said plate having advertising indicia moulded in one face thereof, the opposite face of the plate being secured flatly to the outermost face of said wall, said plate extending downwardly beyond the lowermost edge of said wall and having its lowermost edge inclined inwardly as said one face thereof is approached; and means having parts covering said inclined edge of the plate for directin rays of light emanating from said illuminating means vertically through said plate toward said indicia.

3. A combination advertising and illuminating fixture comprising a housing open only at its bottom and formed from opaque material, said housing having at least one elongated, vertical wall; illuminating means in said housing spaced above said open bottom; a plate, co-extensive in length with said wall and formed from material permeable to rays of light, said plate having advertising indicia moulded in one face thereof, the opposite face of the plate being secured flatly to the outermost face of said wall, said plate extending downwardly beyond the lowermost edge of said wall and having its lowermost edge inclined inwardly as said one face thereof is approached; and means having parts covering said inclined edge of the plate for directing rays of light emanating from said illuminating means vertically through said plate toward said indicia, and opaque end panels for the plate, said panels terminating at one end thereof adjacent said inclined edge of the plate and projecting laterally from said opposite face of the plate in overlapping relationship to proximal walls of the housing.

ALLEN B. RUSSELL, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,796,614 Odenheimer Mar. 1'7, 1931 1,915,511 Banse June 27, 1933 2,124,089 Stuerzl July 19, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 90,814 Switzerland Sept. 16, 1921 688,289 France Apr. 12, 1930 

